4 hours ago, Amt0571 said:

Exactly this happened to my wife's Fabia on tuesday. Found out because there was oil on the garage floor.

 

Thanks to this forum I managed to solve the leak myself. After removing the timing belt cover, I found one screw was halfway out, and three others could be turned with my fingers.

 

I checked the torque on the only bolt that seemed tight, which was at 17Nm, and torqued the other bolts to the same spec after adding thread locker. I later found out that the correct torque is 8Nm + 45deg, so I hope it will be OK anyway.

 

Finally I disassembled and cleaned the plastic at the bottom of the engine bay and after 100km it seems there are no leaks. It seems it lost less than 0.5l of oil, and oil level is still in the correct range.

 

I checked the timing belt and it seemed to be mostly clean of oil, so I think I will be able to save it. I sprayed a rubber compatible degreaser to the belt and after revving the engine, a bit of oil splashed on the cover. After everything dried up I tried it again and there were no further splashes, so I assume the belt is dry and fine.

 

It seems to me that VW engineering is not up to par, especially considering they had a recall on 1.2 engines because of this same issue.

 

I've written to skoda and I'm waiting for a response.

 

I'm sorry to see this has happen to you also, this happened to my Fabia last year and was fixed but a month later It suffered an electrical failure between the starter, battery and alternator. A wiring loom has been damaged as a result of the oil leak so also that entire part had to be replaced. No trouble since a year on 😉

3 hours ago, Mattn00b said:

Good luck hearing back, haven't heard anything back in 9 months, if you do though with anything helpful let me know and I might keep trying!🤣

I've responded 😉

3 hours ago, Mattn00b said:

Good luck hearing back, haven't heard anything back in 9 months, if you do though with anything helpful let me know and I might keep trying!🤣

I've responded 😉

7 hours ago, wilson-uk-85 said:

 

I'm sorry to see this has happen to you also, this happened to my Fabia last year and was fixed but a month later It suffered an electrical failure between the starter, battery and alternator. A wiring loom has been damaged as a result of the oil leak so also that entire part had to be replaced. No trouble since a year on 😉

Is there anything I should look for to avoid this? do you know which wiring loom was affected?

 

After tightening the bolts I removed the bottom tray and cleaned everything I could reach on the bottom of the car with a degreaser, but I didn't see or couldn't reach any wire there as I don't have the appropiate means to lift the car. It's difficult to clean what you can't see. In my case the oil went past the lower suspension arms, as I suspect that the accumulated oil on the tray flew away with the wind and bumps.

 

I also tried to clean the side of the engine, but it's too cramped to reach some parts, especially on the lowest part, from the top.

 

I still have to refill the oil. Although it's still above the low mark, it's too close for comfort IMHO. Do you know which oil do I have to use?

 

Thanks

Well, Skoda called me back today. They told me that since the bolts were tightened outside of Skoda Service, they couldn't do anything despite me having sent a picture of the loose bolts and links to this forums and others with the same issue.

 

I then asked what would happen if they magically loosened again and I brought it to Skoda Service, and he told me that they couldn't guarantee me that they could help me with repairs but that they'll try.

 

Frankly, since the car also loses A/C gas and they can't find where, I'm thinking about selling the car and getting a Yaris, which I think I should have done since day one. There's also an Auris Hybrid at home and it has been flawless and way cheaper to maintain than the Fabia.

Did they tell you it's the first time they have ever seen this problem?

Skoda UK would almost certainly say that. Or the Skoda official dealerships would, or both.

7 minutes ago, Breezy_Pete said:

Did they tell you it's the first time they have ever seen this problem?

Skoda UK would almost certainly say that. Or the Skoda official dealerships would, or both.

No. They didn't tell me that, but I reminded them that they had a recall on 1.2 engines because of this same issue, which at least they didn't deny.

 

I'm just going to keep an eye on the bolts and the timing belt and will replace it if I see wear signs.

 

I'm also going to explore the option of selling the car and getting a used Yaris Hybrid, as so far the Auris has been absolutely flawless, which I can't say about the Fabia whose issues are piling up (some are important, like this and the AC issues, others not so much, but shouldn't be there anyway). I don't really trust this car, and having driven a brand new rental Polo 1.0 TSI DSG this summer, whose clutches squealed like a pig among other issues, I think they don't learn anything and definitely didn't improve my conficende in VW group.

 

In case it doesn't work out or I feel it's not worth it to sell the car, I'm definitely not going to bring the car to the Skoda Service again.

Edited 13 September, 20241 yr by Amt0571

It was a main wiring loom connecting the ignition switch, alternator, battery and starter motor. Power was not getting from the battery to the allow the car to start "just a relay click" and even with a jump pack no luck. The breakdown agent as car was stuck on my drive got it started by applying a jump pack directly to the starter and it fired up and drove to the garage no problem, once parked at the garage, he said try restart it and it didn't, "just clicked". The garage replaced the loom once technician diagnosed the fault and it there has been no further problems. There was load of oil they had to clean up.   

14 hours ago, wilson-uk-85 said:

It was a main wiring loom connecting the ignition switch, alternator, battery and starter motor. Power was not getting from the battery to the allow the car to start "just a relay click" and even with a jump pack no luck. The breakdown agent as car was stuck on my drive got it started by applying a jump pack directly to the starter and it fired up and drove to the garage no problem, once parked at the garage, he said try restart it and it didn't, "just clicked". The garage replaced the loom once technician diagnosed the fault and it there has been no further problems. There was load of oil they had to clean up.   

I looked at the wiring loom today. It was clean, so I suppose it will be fine.

As long as there isn't any noticeable cracks to any of the wiring looms insulation you should be ok. The damage for me meant the battery also wasn't getting a stable charge from the alternator, was charging as low as 9-11v rather then 13.5 and 14.8v peak. 

On 15/09/2024 at 23:54, wilson-uk-85 said:

As long as there isn't any noticeable cracks to any of the wiring looms insulation you should be ok. The damage for me meant the battery also wasn't getting a stable charge from the alternator, was charging as low as 9-11v rather then 13.5 and 14.8v peak. 

What was the failure like?

 

My wife just called me that the car won't start. It says the battery is discharged. Start and stop has been failing for 3 days... I checked voltage and it was 14.6 when on and 12.3 when off.

 

I suppose it's the battery as it's 6 years old, but your message has me wondering if your symptoms were the same.

Today the car is parked in the street as the battery doesn't work. I'm going to replace it on saturday. However, I found a single fresh drop of oil in the garage that I had just cleaned after the leak.

 

I opened the engine and looked on the engine plastic tray and everything seemed dry, until I looked at the bottom and... Surprise: more oil.

 

I removed the tray and the sump drain plug had an oil drip about to fall.

 

The timing belt seemed dry.

 

I cleaned everything and now I'm not sure if the engine is leaking somewhere else which I'm not able to see, or this is just residual oil from the variator pulley leak that splashed on the engine in some bump and now has been collecting there.

 

I checked the oil level and it hasn't visibly diminished since Monday, when I topped it up after the leak.

Edited 19 September, 20241 yr by Amt0571

My 2017 Fabia is still on the original Exide branded battery from the time it was manufactured and is functioning ok. The issue started intermittently but they couldn't diagnose the issue until the wiring loom finally failed. The battery from time to time wasn't receiving the 13.4-14.8v charging current.

 

I recommend booking in with Skoda or a VW group specialist, or a garage well familiar with the Brand especially if they have the official VCDS equipment.

6 hours ago, wilson-uk-85 said:

My 2017 Fabia is still on the original Exide branded battery from the time it was manufactured and is functioning ok. The issue started intermittently but they couldn't diagnose the issue until the wiring loom finally failed. The battery from time to time wasn't receiving the 13.4-14.8v charging current.

 

I recommend booking in with Skoda or a VW group specialist, or a garage well familiar with the Brand especially if they have the official VCDS equipment.

Thank you. The last 2 years, when I serviced the car, they've been telling me the battery was in bad shape, so I still hope it's just a battery failure.

 

I've looked at the wiring looms and all of them seem clean to me except the wiring that goes into the oil sump sensor which has some oil splashes, but this isn't connected to the alternator or battery.

 

I'm currently worried about the oil I found yesterday, as it didn't came from the variator and I couldn't track the origin. I'm still hoping it's residue from the first leak that I didn't manage to clean and just dripped down, but I think there was too much of it to be honest.

 

I tried to find the origin with a flashlight and a mirror on a pole, but was unable to find anything. I don't think I can do anything else without lifting the car.

 

At the moment I just want to repair the car and sell it. I no longer trust it.

 

I don't trust ŠKODA either, since after talking to them about the leak it's clear they don't want to help not care about their customers. So I'm going to look for a mechanic that knows VW cars like you said.

 

 

On 20/09/2024 at 05:59, Amt0571 said:

Thank you. The last 2 years, when I serviced the car, they've been telling me the battery was in bad shape, so I still hope it's just a battery failure.

 

I've looked at the wiring looms and all of them seem clean to me except the wiring that goes into the oil sump sensor which has some oil splashes, but this isn't connected to the alternator or battery.

 

I'm currently worried about the oil I found yesterday, as it didn't came from the variator and I couldn't track the origin. I'm still hoping it's residue from the first leak that I didn't manage to clean and just dripped down, but I think there was too much of it to be honest.

 

I tried to find the origin with a flashlight and a mirror on a pole, but was unable to find anything. I don't think I can do anything else without lifting the car.

 

At the moment I just want to repair the car and sell it. I no longer trust it.

 

I don't trust ŠKODA either, since after talking to them about the leak it's clear they don't want to help not care about their customers. So I'm going to look for a mechanic that knows VW cars like you said.

 

 

My Skoda Fabia has just had its service & MOT. I have a folder with all the service history in and I have looked up the wiring loom that failed. VW part number 6C0 971 349 PC. It was the battery connections to the alternator.

 

On 19/09/2024 at 21:47, Amt0571 said:

Today the car is parked in the street as the battery doesn't work. I'm going to replace it on saturday. However, I found a single fresh drop of oil in the garage that I had just cleaned after the leak.

 

I opened the engine and looked on the engine plastic tray and everything seemed dry, until I looked at the bottom and... Surprise: more oil.

 

I removed the tray and the sump drain plug had an oil drip about to fall.

 

The timing belt seemed dry.

 

I cleaned everything and now I'm not sure if the engine is leaking somewhere else which I'm not able to see, or this is just residual oil from the variator pulley leak that splashed on the engine in some bump and now has been collecting there.

 

I checked the oil level and it hasn't visibly diminished since Monday, when I topped it up after the leak.